The research focused on current views of the people in northern Finland and northwest Russia about the opening of the border. The inquiry was carried out on both sides of the border. The research studied among other matters what are the most important motives and co-operation possibilities of citizens concerning crossing the border. The living conditions and experiences of the respondents were analyzed as a background of the questions. The results were compared with the inquiry made in 1994. There was also made a statistical review of socio-economical changes, which have taken place in national and regional levels between the research years.

In 2006 the inquiry was carried out in North-East Lapland (Kemijärvi and Salla), in Northern Lapland in Inari, and in North-West Russia (Kandalaksha and Murmansk).